A handstand hullabaloo in Providence

Julie Tremmel was so enthused about her job as a reporter for an NBC affiliate in Rhode Island that she literally did handstands for the station.

Unfortunately for Tremmel, the move didn't win over the judges, otherwise known as her bosses. Days after the segment aired, she was fired from WJAR.

But that's not the end of the story. Tremmel has filed a grievance against the station, and her fans have taken to Facebook and other social media to demand her reinstatement. The dispute also highlights the tension between those who favor the older, establishment-type TV news and others pushing for a looser, more entertainment-based format.

The 36-year-old Tremmel, a Marlboro native, was well known in Worcester as a hard-working anchor and reporter for NECN "Worcester News Tonight" from 2004 to 2007. She has since worked in Springfield and Albany, N.Y., before landing a job as a nightside reporter with WJAR 15 months ago.

"I'm still in a complete state of shock over my sudden job loss," Tremmel told me last week. In a prepared statement, she said, "I was terminated without cause from WJAR and my union and I are fighting it through the grievance and arbitration process in our contract with the station."

Her firing Feb. 11 came a week after she performed a shaky handstand during a live, light-hearted piece about local auditions for the NBC show "America's Got Talent." Tremmel declined to discuss the details of the firing, and station news director Chris Lanni didn't return a phone call.

But the stunt wasn't the first time she raised eyebrows at WJAR. Last summer, after a bear was spotted in the area, Tremmel took to the woods with a hands-on re-enactment about how to respond to a bear attack. The piece included her flapping her arms and curling up in the fetal position.

The segment went viral, but not everyone at the station was pleased. Most notably, a respected WJAR investigative reporter named Jim Taricani posted on Facebook that he found the segment "a smudge on our station's reputation," and wrote, "… some TV reporters like to draw attention to themselves… its (sic) an insult to most of us trying to be professional."

Taricani, 64, is retiring in April after four decades. He declined to comment last week on the Tremmel affair, citing union involvement.

But the veteran's discomfort with his younger colleague's sometimes-flamboyant style underscores the ongoing struggle within television journalism to strike a balance between professionalism and performance. As viewership declines, the medium has striven to attract younger viewers and remain relevant in the digital age. The struggle has led to a shift from a dry, just-the-facts recitation of events to a more informal, chatty format that would have Walter Cronkite rolling over in his grave.

Weighing in on the Tremmel affair, Dean Starkman, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and editor at the Columbia Journalism Review, noted that Tremmel "was certainly capable of serious reporting" but also represented a "more informal, self-promotional style" believed to appeal to younger viewers.

"This new style is heavily influenced digital culture: fast, witty, self-conscious, ironic, and informal, sometimes to the point of juvenile," Starkman wrote on GoLocalProv.com

An online petition to bring her back to WJAR had 182 signatures as of Friday night.

"I've been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from viewers and fans," Tremmel said. "People are reaching out to me around the world, and it's been heartwarming."